It took me a while to get back to the forum to post this, for duty called at the work place, but here we go. Ladies and gents of the forum, here is one I'd like to throw out in front of you. You make the call:

I was at Butler Speedway last Saturday Night. All Star Sprints. 23 cars. A small field, but a lot of good heavy hitters in attendance. Danny Holtgraver took honors.

In the Feature, local Michigan shoe Ryan Ruhl was running top 10. 6th.... 7th.... or so. He spins coming out of Turn 4, goes low, slightly off of the track, and throws up a big cloud of dust, for the lower part of the track, on the fringe of the infield.

Caution comes out. Ruhl is sent to the rear on the restart.

If I might quote the late, great Paul Harvey..... and now for the rest of the story.

Ruhl kept his foot in it, did a 360, and came back out onto the track from what would be considered a low line, blending in fine. Back of the pack anyways.

We fans claimed inadvertent caution. The flagman was trigger happy. If THAT was the case, his position on the restart should have been where he was when the caution came out.

Correct call or not? What do the local tracks do in this case - Kokomo, Gas City, Bloomington, etc.? Someone spins, keeps going, but the caution waves.

I remember this happening at Knoxville a few years back with Lasoski spinning in the B Main but getting his position back because he never stopped. That was the year he got in the fight with his dad.

Would one think the officials felt he went into the infield and that is why? A spin is a spin IMO.

Anyways. I sent an E-Mail to the All Stars to see why Ruhl did not get his spot back. i should have just asked the officials on the way out, but didn't.

Feel free to chime in.

My take.....
The driver caused the caution, he goes to the tail. I hated the few times I had to make that decision and "pull the trigger" and throw a caution. If any part of the track can't be seen by the flagman it isn't safe. And although I've never been lucky enough to be behind the wheel, I can imagine how it would feel approaching that dust cloud not know what lies in or beyond the fog. It's always best to error on the side of safety. I didn't witnesses this exact situation you are asking about, but I have experienced very similar ones. Just my opinion.

Jeremy Vogel

After reading your post again I noticed "Allstars". My experience with them is there is only one guy who makes calls and it isn't the flagman.

Most tracks say if YOU are the cause for a caution, inadvertent or otherwise, you must restart at the tail. It was your car that caused the caution. I agree with it 100%. And also in this situation, you could argue the caution flew for safety reasons. (Dust cloud, visibility...)

I think it's an All Star rule that's been in place for quite some time. Chad Blonde spun in traffic leading the A Main at Hilltop back in 2006 or 2007 and kept it going but the caution flew so he went to the tail.

My call is if you caused the yellow so you go to the tail end of the field. There are some tracks/associations that will park you if you do a 360. It is a pretty dangerous move with absolutely nothing to gain.

Happened to Gus Wasson & Frankie Kerr at Limaland. Kerr spun to avoid Wasson while leading & both did the 360 spin & kept going, the caution came out & both were put to the rear. Huntley went on to win & in his victory speech mentioned that what happened to Frankie was BS & he should be standing there & the fans roared with approval.

How many of you are googling Gus Wasson ?

I remember Gus Wasson. Damn, I'm old!!

Track Officials sometimes have to make split second judgement calls. Some not popular. I am not going to second-guess any call like that, as it is a thankless job.

Not in Texas, or at least the Houston area. If you spin out and bring out the yellow, the track will then ask the officials if there was any contact. If so, another car may go to the back and the spinner might get his position back. Or, if they can't determine who was at fault, both cars get their position back. When I make the comment that this isn't really how it is done, I get looked like I am an alien (okay, I get that look a lot anyway). . . . This makes for a long night of racing since any time a car spins out, they stop to bring out the yellow, just to see if they can get their position back. . . . . and folks then wonder why there aren't any fans. . .

I can see that side of the coin. If a driver causes an unsafe condition..... I was just assuming that if the car never stopped, the caution should have never come out.

Thanks for all of the input. I was just wondering what the call might be. How it might differ from track to track, series to series. I also understand there are split second calls and no instant replay.

Still haven't heard back from the All Star officials yet. I'll post their reply...... if I get one.